//Conscious, sustainable, recycled: A word on being a better consumer.

A WORD. As H&M’s infamous Conscious Collection hit stores yesterday and sold like hot cakes, I felt it was just the right moment to do a post I owed this blog for a really long time.

Firstly, I like the idea of reusing clothes but as a studied textile engineer I also know that this is just a drop in the ocean. As the professor of my friends put it a few weeks ago: “The clothes get recycled. That’s good. They’re making something new of it and then the people buy this new stuff, wear it a couple of times and throw it away…”

Ummmm, you see, that exactly is the point I’m trying to make. We buy it, wear it a couple of times and we throw it away. Right from the beginning of at/least this has always been an issue for me: How much clothing should you present on a blog? Don’t the “big fashion bloggers” evoke that having an own apartment for your closet is completely normal? I don’t want to be a hypocrite; to get things straight: I do buy quite an amount of new clothes throughout a year, I do buy these at H&M and I also have been to Primark, yes. And I feel bad for it often, because I should know a lot better.

But not only the amount of clothing is a problem of course. The quality is as well. I find it kind of crazy that people always blame companies for producing low quality clothing for low wages if it’s us who are not willing to spend even five bugs more on a t-shirt. These clothes are made to throw away – and it’s us who accept it like that because we don’t even plan to wear them longer than a season.

When I started to study textile engineering first, I thought that it would give me some answers on… I guess on how to be a better consumer or so. But it didn’t – I just found more things to question. I mean, is there actually a way to buy clothing conscious? That’s kind of like being on a diet and eating a cereal bar instead of one piece of chocolate, isn’t it? It is healthier, but it still has the same calories. “Consciousness”, as it is used by fashion labels, doesn’t solve the problem. The real problem is that we are buying too much.

If we bought less, we could save more money that we could then spend on clothing of higher quality that we could wear longer which would let us buy less, which would save us money on clothing of higher quality [and so on]. That’s the circle we need to be in.

What’s your opinion on this? Do you have any tips on labels producing really conscious? Or generally on how to save the world? I’d really like to hear it.

I don’t know remember how I cam across your blog… but it’s some co-incidence that back at my blog I talked about a very similar issue in the last post. I did so in a more.. I dunno nerdy way… but your write up drives the point home completely.

I agree that as consumers, we’ve got to take responsibility and not just blame it on the companies. And buying things that will last us longer is the key. Saving up for one good garment instead of 4 cheap ones is a choice that we need to make now. Extremely happy to see other bloggers having a similar dialogue too !

And oh yeah… I had no idea about the H n M conscious collection ( they don’t have stores in India neither do they ship here I believe) But thanks for enlightening me! It gives a new perspective…. I went on and read quite a lot about it now

Lisa_atleast

What I miss, when people are talking about sustainability and everything connected to it, is possible solutions. I mean, it’s always “Everything is bad! And it’s the company’s fault. Stop buying at H&M” What they miss is that even most upmarket companies have moved their production to China and everywhere else where they can get the best price. I’m constantly confused about where to buy while the key is not to buy 😀 (That much at least) And to be more sensitive about the price you pay (in the other direction than you would normally do then)

I think it’s necessary for all of us, who blog about fashion to share our thoughts on this. Ignoring is not the right way. As usual.

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You want to know more about eco fashion and to find out why you should start buying clothes more consciously? Then you've come to the right place! Find out how good eco fashion can look in my outfit posts, get to know fair fashion brands in my conscious shopping guide and let me introduce you to other bloggers writing about sustainability!

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Our throwaway-mindset has a huge negative environmental effects. Have you ever tried to make something new of your old stuff through DIY- or upcycling projects? Maybe you can turn old furniture into interior highlights and old clothing into real trend pieces – you'll find plenty of ideas here on at least. What's your next project?